Treatment Patterns, Medication Adherence, and Drug Resistance among Tuberculosis Patients in South India: A Cross-Sectional Study

guidelines were included in the study. This encompassed both newly diagnosed and previouslytreated patients, who had been on anti-TB treatment for at least two months. Patients who wereseverely ill or unwilling to provide consent were excluded from participation. Additionally,pregnant and lactating women, as well as individuals diagnosed with mental illnesses, wereexcluded to ensure the consistency and reliability of the dataset.Ethical ConsiderationsConfidentiality of patient data was prioritized throughout the study. All collected data wereanonymized before analysis to ensure privacy and compliance with ethical standards. Ethicalclearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the host institution, andpermissions were granted by relevant TB control authorities. Written informed consent wasobtained from all participants after explaining the study’s objectives, benefits, and potentialrisks.Sample size and Data CollectionSample size was determined using Cochran’s formula for cross-sectional studies, assuming ananticipated non-adherence rate of 30%, 95% confidence interval, and 5% precision, with anadditional 10% to compensate for non-response.Data were collected using a pre-structured form and subsequently recorded in an Excelspreadsheet for analysis. The form captured key variables, including sociodemographicinformation, treatment history, medication adherence (assessed using the Morisky MedicationAdherence Scale-8). Clinical and laboratory data such as treatment regimen, sputum results,culture findings, and drug susceptibility test (DST) results were extracted from TB registers andpatient records. Drug details, including names, dosages, treatment durations, and prescribingphysicians, were also documented.The classification of TB cases was based on patients’ history of treatment and drug resistanceprofiles. New cases were defined as those who had not undergone prior TB treatment or had received anti-TB drugs for less than one month. Previously treated cases were further sub-classified into recurrent cases (previously treated and microbiologically confirmed positive for